lord Martiya's Lilanette Week 2020
by lord Martiya
Summary: My take on the newest edition of the Lilanette Week
1. Day 1: Childhood Meeting

Here it is, a new edition of the Lilanette Week. And once again I'm not only taking part in it, I'm making a coherent story from seven out of eight prompts. And got a few interesting ideas…

_**Day 1: Childhood Meeting**_

Lila had to admit, what had just happened had been quite the trip. Thought she wouldn't repeat it. Then Ladybug knelt at her side and put a hand on her shoulder.

"I-totally overreacted, and should have never spoken to you like that. I'm sorry." she said.

"Wait… You've _really_ forgotten?!" Lila replied in shock. "After the mess of that day?!"

"Uh? Wait, Lilly?!"

"You know each other?" Chat Noir asked.

"Yes. Me, Ladybug, and Marinette Dupain-Cheng." Lila replied. "You probably know her, considering how many people got Akumatized in her, _our_ class…"

"Oh. Oh, well, I think I should go and leave you alone. See you!"

As Chat left, Ladybug realized two things: her old friend had changed more than a little bit in looks, and somehow _knew her real name_. But even that was less important than the other part.

"Why did you disappear?" she asked after they took a seat in Gustave Eiffel's apartment. "I didn't get any news from you for years, and-"

"An uncle of mine thought I was being too gay, and took out your contact information and mails. He was also about to destroy your gifts, but Mom caught him in the act. Ever since, her coworkers call her "La Benigna", the benevolent, because they're too scared to offend her. Tried to track you down ever since, saw you at Le Grand Paris yesterday by the way, we may not be as close as the rumor mill paints us but I'm acquainted with Prince Ali…"

"That's why you spread those rumors? To get my attention?"

"No, that was the interview. The other rumors were the usual result of a rumor mill. Except the thing with Adrien, I wanted to see if he'd buy it. That and song Jagged Stone would have written for me, that one I was being sarcastic and Bourgeois apparently likes the stereotype about blondes' IQ. How could she buy that, I've got no idea."

"That may be my fault… One of Chloe's tricks ended up with me making Jagged Stone's Eiffel Tower glasses, and we've been friends ever since."

Lila snorted in a strangled laugh as she brought her hand over the eyes and shook her head.

"Only you, 'Nette…" she said in mock exasperation.

"Before I forget… How did you find out?" Marinette asked as her transformation wore off.

"The speech. It was just so… You. The awesome yet adorable Marinette. Half of Paris, and many outside, fell for you in that moment. Speaking of which… Sorry for putting the moves on your boyfriend, didn't imagine you were dating."

It took a few minutes, but Marinette managed to stammer that she and Adrien weren't dating.

"_Ma l'è na capra 'nculata_?!" Lila asked, surprised.

"Did you just call him an idiot?"

"Yes. Yes I did. You're good looking, strong, kind, a genius, and a bit crazy to spice it up, and that's without the whole superhero thing! He'll better hurry up, or I move in. No, forget it, I'm doing it."

_Years earlier, Verthier_

"_AIUTO!"_ Lila shouted as she held herself to the railing. She took another look down from the bridge, right in the (in her mind appropriately named) Eau Morte river, and shouted again, hoping someone would come soon-she was starting to slip.

As she cursed herself once again for running from her parents and play on that bridge, and hoping she'd never leave Rome and her much calmer river ever again, she felt a pair of hands smaller than hers grab her arm-and then pull her up, saving her life. It had been a girl about her age, possibly younger, that Lila immediately grabbed while babbling her thanks just as her parents and those of her savior arrived. Then, belatedly remembering that her savior likely didn't speak Italian, she thanked her again and asked her name.

"Marinette. Marinette Dupain-Cheng." she replied with a smile that just made Lila melt.

_Notes_

Yep. A childhood meeting in which Marinette saved Lila's life during a vacation, and for the rest of the vacation they were practically inseparable. And the place it happened exists, I've used an actual picture (search for "Eau morte Verthier" on Wikimedia Commons).


	2. Day 2: Sports

I actually suggested this prompt for this edition. Got more than a few ideas for this one, I mean, Marinette's openly very athletic, and Lila is capable of climbing down from the Eiffel Tower… But in the end, I've gone for this, the one sport-related thing we know for sure Lila can do better than Marinette.

_**Day 2: Sports**_

Right after she and Marinette had left Agreste Mansion, where they had informed Gabriel Agreste of why a certain Grimoire was (in Ladybug's hands) and would be returned as soon as she had copied it all, inadvertently convincing him that Adrien was _not_ Chat Noir as she had reasoned he had taken it to try and bring it to Ladybug himself and if he had been Chat Noir he would have known better to bring that book at school (try telling that to Plagg), Lila had to admit the man's character explained far too much of Adrien Agreste's personality.

"We have to take the poor boy out of that man's clutches as soon as we figure out how to keep it from impacting your career." she decided. "_That_ is the hard part, getting Adrien out should be simple enough considering what you've told me."

"I wouldn't underestimate him, he built his company just thanks to his talent." Marinette reminded her friend.

"Talent, his wife's money, and his wife's inexplicable friend. Nine times out of ten people like him leave some gigantic opening to screw them over, and I've already spotted his. Need to be good at that, if I'm to help you with your butterfly problem. Speaking of which, you're free tomorrow afternoon, aren't you?"

"I thought we could spend it catching up."

"That can wait. You're my friend, and we'll be lovers if I get my way, as it always happens-"

"And how does that happen?"

"Hard work and a fine brain. I'm not wearing excessive make-up and some disgusting display of plutocratic complacency, am I?"

"*sigh*No, you aren't."

"Good. As I was saying, considering all that I need to make sure you're the best fighter you can be, and I happen to know how."

"Lila… I have my yo-yo."

"And how long ago was the fashion disaster who neutralized it with a playing card? Also, you _don't_ have it when you aren't wearing the sexy suit-"

"LILA!"

"-and knowing how to throw a proper punch can help you with those too weak-willed to keep their hands to themselves. And I may not be an Olympic fighter _yet_, but I can still teach you a few things. The basics, at least. For now all you'll need will be gym clothes and a pair of handwraps, everything else I already have."

"Lila, seriously, I don't need it."

Marinette thought it would settle it. Then she looked at her childhood friend's face and realized that she was about to get talked into it.

* * *

"I'm still not sure about it, Tikki." Marinette said, hesitating right before the school gym's door (available for students to exercise after hours, obviously under the supervision of professor d'Argencourt or another qualified adult).

"Why? You said it yourself, Lila knows what she's doing." Tikki pointed out.

"I know! But… She's something of a seductress, and she's after me, and… And it's almost summer and Mom just did the laundry, and I had to dress like this!"

_This_ being a pair of dark blue yoga pants and a short black top tank, plus her usual gym shoes and a pair of yellow handwraps just bought at the shop.

A bit peeved, Tikki gave her a LOOK and said: "You'll be fine, now go in."

With another sigh, Marinette entered and saw Lila sitting on a bench, reading a book on boxing and streetfighting while dressed in a short orange top tank, orange with white borders shorts, and black with white stripes boots that, by the brand, were likely made specifically for boxing, an outfit Marinette was willing to bet had been chosen specifically to show off her toned arms and legs and, for a teen, well-defined abs. As she noticed her arrival, Lila stood up, came close while taking a good look, and said: "And right now I'm wishing I was competent enough in wrestling to teach it to you. By the way, did anyone ever tell you you're cute when you're facepalming and blushing?"

* * *

Considering her shameless flirting, Marinette had half-expected Lila to touch her around with the excuse of correcting her stance. Instead she directly touched her only to correct her hands' position, using a workout stick for the legs.

"I'll grope you when you'll be comfortable with it, and with no excuses." she said while looking directly in Marinette's eyes from far too close as she put on a pair of black boxing gloves with the word "Winning" in a roundel on their back. "Now that I've got you blushing again, the straight punch with the forward arm. In English, the "jab". Just extend that arm as fast as you can while rotating the fist to have the back upward, then take it back just as fast. When I'm satisfied you're good with both hands we'll go with the straight with backward arm, the "cross"-knowing you, shouldn't take much."

"Aren't those the most basic punches?" Marinette asked.

"I was expecting this question. That's why we're here at the bag."

With a smile, Lila gave the bag a jab-cross combo, hitting the target twice in less than a second and making it swing with some speed before taking off the gloves.

"First thing, a proper cross can take out most opponent. Second, it's a progression: the jab gives you the movements to learn the cross, and once you've learned the cross you can go with the heavier punches. It's called the basics because it's the base for everything else. Now, let's do some jabs, OK?"

Lila and Marinette started doing some jabs in the air, with Lila looking at her friend's form-and having some trouble keeping her eyes on the arm and not the incredibly cute face. On the plus side, Marinette could enjoy seeing _Lila_ blush when she finally caught her in the act…

_Notes_

When it comes to hand-to-hand combat, Marinette isn't exactly skilled: her footwork is good, as we saw in "Anansi", but when it comes to striking we saw in "Felix" her technique is, well, completely absent. Lila, on the other hand, has proven herself quite capable in "Chameleon", reflexively parrying the infamous killer napkin the way a boxer would be taught and, once she was Chameleon and had copied Chat Noir's powers and physical abilities, quickly overwhelming Ladybug and going for a ground-and-pound. We can safely say that Lila has formal training in kickboxing and possibly MMA and aced it, while Marinette goes on purely on fighting experience… And could benefit some proper training. Thus the whole set-up… And Lila having quality boxing equipment (just google "Winning boxing gloves" and look for a review).

Also, I wanted to say where I got the "disgusting display of plutocratic complacency" comment, as it's not something I came up for myself: a _**DISNEY**_ comic, shouted by Donald during a discussion with Scrooge. You can find some interesting things when you know where to look, can't you?


	3. Day 3: School

Lilanette at school! And Lila finally making progress with Marinette.

_**Day 3: School**_

It had started innocently enough, with Lila bringing to school the book she had been reading in the gym the previous Saturday and another one from the same author, this time about the dirty tricks, and giving them to Marinette as a gift, overruling her protests by saying she owed her a few birthday and Christmas presents. Then Lila asked if Marinette preferred velcro or laces for the bag gloves she was going to procure her, and Chloe had to butt in.

"Good thing she's learning something else other than designing, she'll need it." the blonde bully stated.

"Bold words, for a plagiarist." Lila replied, a calm and sweet tone in her voice and the best smile she could summon making her words even more surprising, shocking the arriving Ms. Bustier into not intervening and distracting everyone from Lila's hands.

"What. Did you. Say." Chloe demanded with barely restrained fury.

"Well, from what I've heard, some time ago there had been a fashion contest sponsored by _Gabriel_, nothing big just something for youths and with visibility as the prize, and _you_ were caught red-handed trying to steal Marinette's _winning_ design."

"You-you…"

"That was disappointing, you know? I thought you were the daughter of the Queen of Style herself, but if you were you'd never lower yourself to that."

At _that_ Chloe tried to slap Lila, who casually dodged with a tilt of her head before stepping back to avoid the follow-up backhand before stepping right into her space, making her jump back from the surprise right into Marinette and Alya's desk. All the while, Lila hadn't lost her smile once.

"YOU THINK YOU'RE SO SMART, UH?!" Chloe roared as she stood up. "_I_ am the mayor's daughter, and he can ruin you! And your family! And Marin-"

Chloe interrupted herself as Lila finally lost her smile and leveled her with a stare with her eyes wide open and the mouth turned into a thin horizontal line, something made scarier by Lila's eyes having smaller-than-normal pupils (Lila would later admit she had worked over her death glare to make it as scary as possible, though she couldn't do it at her best when she was actually angry). Then she gave Chloe the same smirk Volpina had given to Ladybug when she had first cornered her and lowered her head, still looking at Chloe… And distracting her by what she was doing with her smartphone up until she returned to smile and, in her previous tone, announced: "Congratulations, you're fucked."

"What?!"

"For starters, I'm the daughter of a diplomat, I have diplomatic immunity." Lila said as she continued using her phone. "I could punch you out right here and now in front of these witnesses and I'd get away with it, I doubt anything your father can do would even inconvenience me. But my mother's job is only part of why you're fucked-the other part is that I was filming our exchange the whole time, and now my Cloud has a recording of you assaulting and threatening me. I don't even need witnesses, if my mom decided to sue, with both your parents, and I still can't believe your mother _is_ the Queen of Style, becoming collaterals."

"No…"

"But I doubt she'd do it, she's a diplomat and this is dirt over the mayor of Paris. She'd keep it until Italy needs something potentially embarrassing over France, and then she'd threaten to make it public. And no matter how it would go, the government wouldn't take kindly to your father getting them in such trouble."

"You can't!"

"Now, I _could_ start something about "can" and "would", but I won't. I'll just bar you from any bullying, or else I'll give my mother the film. And in case you think you may hack my account and delete it, don't bother, I've been sending it to my other servers and will make more than a few copies. And don't you dare getting Akumatized over this, even if you end up magically deleting them Ladybug will restore them as soon as she win and then I'll go through with it. Now go back to your seat before you embarrass yourself any further." Then, as Chloe picked herself up and sullenly walked to her place, she went to Marinette and said: "She won't pick on you anymore, if she knows what's good for her."

Marinette had trouble answering, looking at Lila with wise eyes and a blush as she stammered a "thank you".

"That was uncalled for." the teacher said, having finally come out of the shock from Lila's display. "We don't deal with such actions that way."

"I know, you try and use example and that compliment exercise." Lila said, still smiling. "More than many teachers I had in the past, but based on the fallacious premise that bullies would still be bullies if they could be swayed by that. In my experience they only understand power, and with Chloe and this being a private school relying in no small part on Bourgeois money that means either thrashing her physically, and I like to believe I'm better than that, what I've just done, or Adrien threatening to ditch her as a friend, something he's far too kind to do."

Suddenly Chloe screamed and threw a pair of sunglasses with black frames at the chalkboard, sunglasses that turned white as soon as the Akuma came out of it.

"And you have to admit, my method works." Lila stated as she suppressed a fit of maniacal laughter and went to pick the Akuma with her bare hand. "'Nette, could you come with me as I call Ladybug for the purification? Just in case the thing tries anything funny, I'm sure you could help me."

"Ah… Er… Yes! Yes, I'm coming." Marinette said, wondering why she had just started stammering at Lila and thinking about what she had just said about Adrien.

* * *

Later that day, Marinette was putting a picture of Lila along Adrien's in her room when realization hit her.

"Tikki… I'M CRUSHING ON LILA!" she shouted.

"I don't see the problem, she's a nice girl." her mother called out from below.

Marinette picked a cushion and started screaming in it.

_Notes_

Now, there is one thing to know about Audrey: her last name is most likely _not_ Bourgeois, for the simple reason in France, ever since the Revolution, it's forbidden to change the name you get at birth aside for some _very_ specific exceptions that don't include marriage but include said name being objectively embarrassing for some reason (it's the same thing in Italy and many other European countries overran by the French in the following quarter century of wars). Hence why Chloe being the daughter of one of the biggest names in fashion not being obvious, not unless either said it (and who'd believe Chloe?).

As for the thing about bullying… I'm sorry to say it, but Caline Bustier is sadly ineffective against that. She tries, she really tries, but


	4. Day 4: Illness

I admit it, I'm recycling the premise of my very first Lilanette one-shot. Then again, Lila is from Italy, there's no way she wouldn't consider Paris too cold. Just sorry it's so short…

_**Day 4: Illness**_

"How did you even do it?" Marinette asked as she peeled the apple. "We're in summer and you got a cold!"

"_Su_**bb**_osed_ summer." Lila replied from under her covers. "I_**d**_'s _**d**_oo _**g**_old here-and I showed off a bi_**d**_ _**d**_oo much. As soon as the Terror Bowtie is _**g**_augh_**d**_ I'm bringing you to Rome and show you a real summer."

Marinette sighed at the antics of her newest crush, just glad that at least their familiarity had allowed her to get over the stammering much faster. She looked around her room, seeing that while the creepy masks and the Italian flag were still in place they had managed to convince Lila's mother to have it repainted in orange. Then she put a hand on Lila's pajama.

"You're soaked!" she exclaimed. "We need to change and wash you, and-"

Realization hit them both at the same time: as she was now, Lila couldn't change herself and get a shower, thus _Marinette_ would have to clean and change her friend.

Lila's fever spiked up, and Marinette almost matched it.

"And we can't even have some fun…" _Marinette_ said, preceding Lila with the teasing for once.

It would take a while for her to realize the implications of that.

_Notes_

I like Lila. I also like Marinette. And I like putting the characters I like into strange and embarrassing situations.


	5. Day 5: Celebrity

Marinette has talent and connections. By all means, she should be a celebrity, but she doesn't want. Let me correct that, please.

_**Day 5: Celebrity**_

According to Lila, in far too many things connections and visibility counted more than actual talent when it came to have success-and fashion was one such thing. That had been why she had talked Marinette into leveraging the fact she had made stuff for Jagged Stone (including his iconic Eiffel Tower goggles)-or rather, having him say where did those goggles came from. There would also be a certain bowler hat, except Gabriel Agreste had already promised just that and, being a man of his word in spite of his (many) faults, was about to have the face of his company show it off at a Fashion Week event, with only a single modification caused by him not being heartless enough to have any of his models, let alone his own son, wear something he's allergic to. Still, the more visibility the better-and the very same event where Gabriel would keep his promise had offered Marinette a chance to impress THE Queen of Style-Chloe's mother. That, had Lila not provided the blonde "incentive" to act as a decent person, could have been poisoned against Marinette instead of being her caustic neutral self.

"What, you want my support and don't have any glitter?" the woman demanded, her partiality for glitter being well known.

"I never had a chance to use it, so my skills with it aren't developed." Marinette replied with a calm she didn't really feel, her friends giving her the courage to face someone who could make or destroy her with a tweet.

"And just for not being an imbecile you're better than almost anyone who comes for my support. Now, that hat I've been told you've made… How long did you have, exactly?"

"A few hours."

"Then I suppose it's acceptable. And the feather, why synthetic?"

"That would be me." Adrien admitted. "It was originally an actual pigeon feather, but I'm allergic-"

"So your father decided to spoil you and replaced it." the woman stated, taking a better look at the hat. "And an interesting anti-plagiarism feature-did someone try and steal your design at the contest? If yes, did you film them?"  
Somehow, Alya and Lila managed to not snicker at the look on Chloe's face. Then the Queen turned to Lila, who for once wasn't wearing an outfit with her omnipresent orange jacket but a red two-pieces suit with skirt, all decorated with embroidered fox motifs, and they shut up.

"That too, I take?" she asked.

"Yes, ma'am." Lila replied, enjoying that Marinette's present for one of the missed birthday was enjoying her attention.

"Well, Marinette Dupain-Cheng, why don't you come to New York with me? I can make you into a star."

That was something none of the presents had been expecting. And it came from someone notoriously short tempered, who could well change her mind and ruin Marinette's career on a whim. The presents risked to lose their friend, crush, and heroine, either to New York or the stress that would come from the Queen of Style's temper.

"I-I, well, cannot." Marinette replied, somewhat timidly.

"Dating your model is highly unprofessional, young lady." Audrey stated.

"We're not dating!" Marinette protested with a blush.

"I'm not planning to become a model." Lila pointed out while appreciating her crush' blush.

"I would hope so, with those hands." the fashion influencer stated, referring to Lila's hands and the signs of her combat sport conditioning(1). "Then what is it?"

"I'm, well, I'm just not ready." Marinette explained. "I'm still learning, and-"

"Talent and a brain, both well developed! Finally, I didn't get someone like you since I dragged Gabriel out of the cupboard he made his earlier designs into! You'll go far, and I'll be damned if anyone tries and ruin that! You'll be the new Coco Chanel, and without her indiscretions(2)!"

And with that, Lila knew they were settled. They could finally go after Gabriel Agreste and get poor Adrien out of his clutches. Then Agreste's secretary showed up and directed the Bourgeois family to their seats-in the second row.

"Get cover, I think she's gonna get Akumatized and your father isn't around." Lila whispered to Adrien as she saw the Queen of Style protesting the "humiliation". "Get in the nearby pavillion, there's a big kickboxing event there and the fighters should provide you some time."

_Notes_

(1)Some practitioners of combat sports and martial arts, especially those who expect to strike someone bare-handed, go through hard training to reinforce their hands, as those limbs are relatively fragile (the whole point of boxing gloves and similar protections being to prevent someone's hand breaking while punching someone in the face). An external sign of this training is scars and calluses on the back of the hand from striking a heavy bag, a makiwara, or another implement to be struck, rigorously bare-handed. Please do not do it unsupervised-there's a reason boxers usually use gloves anyway when doing bag training.

(2)Coco Chanel was a staunch conservative who used World War II as an excuse to close her shops and get back at workers that had gone on strike for better wages, an anti-Semite who used the German occupation of France to try and decide to her advantage the dispute she had with two Jewish businessmen about the property of Parfums Chanel (for which they had provided all funds and they had a well-defined contract), and collaborated with German intelligence during the occupation.


	6. Day 6: Kwami Swap

Kwami swap. It's so much fun, to have someone take a Miraculous they didn't have in canon. And today, I present you with an insane idea I've had some time ago but never had the chance to put into a story: the most terrifying heroic Miraculous Holder.

_**Day 6: Kwami Swap**_

"AAAAAAAAGH!"

Lila had always suspected Marinette was somewhat crazy, and her stay in Paris had been providing ample evidence.

"Chok chok chok chok! Apa Punch!"

Not that she didn't have evidence before, such as when she had dropped the Eiffel Tower on the Mime, or jumped in the mouth of a _**T-rex**_, but witnessing it was something else.

"Te te te te! Chai Kick!"

The first time had been during the Sapotis incident, when Ladybug choose her for the Fox Miraculous. Sure, she was certainly better suited to it and more creative than Alya (who she expected would call herself something as obvious as "Red Fox" in some language), but giving such a tool to someone who was apparently the best liar in history, recorded or otherwise, was just tempting fate.

"Stop turning into glitter and take my punches!"

Then there had been the battle with Anansi, where the plan had included for Lila to have the Miraculous and engage into single combat an Akumatized kickboxer who was training for the World Games(1)-and dropping the Arc of Triumph on her had only just slowed the monster down.

"YOU THINK I'M STUPID?!"

This, however, took the cake. Ladybug herself was looking at it in fascination and horror as the absurdly fast fighter throwing Muay Thai terms and _Kenichi_(2) quotes around was reducing Style Queen into a quivering mess even without being able to actually _hit_ her. And it wasn't just her: Vorpika (that being the name Lila had chosen as her heroic persona), Chat Noir and Carapace were equally fascinated and scared by what was happening.

"Bugaboo, what the hell were you thinking?" Chat Noir finally asked, voicing what everyone was thinking.

"Well, I had this plan that required us four and the Bee Miraculous, so I took everything, gave you the Miraculous, and went to give the Bee to Alya Cesaire… But then her sister came out of the other pavillion just as I found her-"

"Oh, god."

"Well, better than I thought." Carapace said, much to everyone's surprise. "Imagine if it _wasn't_ her but someone just as strong and crazy…"

The other three Heroes shuddered in horror, before seeing that Chloe was approaching with the Villain's hat.

"It's the Akumatized object, I saw it." the girl said in a monotone, even more horrified than everyone else-after all, the one who was facing a superpowered Nora Cesaire was her mother.

Chat wasted no time in ripping the hat, freeing the Akuma for Ladybug to purify and turning Style Queen back into her normal self, just as the superpowered fury was throwing a punch at her face-punch that she stopped a single millimeter from the target.

"Hey, warn me next time! Don't risk making Nambi(3) a killer unless necessary!" the Bee heroine shouted.

"Assuming there_ is _a next time." Vorpika said. "Because I may have just figured who Papillon is…"

"Really?!" the other three heroes around her exclaimed.

"Maybe. Or maybe not. I'll tell you latMPF!"

Vorpika couldn't finish, as Ladybug had decided to show her happiness at the chance of finally being done with that by kissing her deeply, to everyone else' shock.

"Told you I'd move in with the_ capra 'nculata_ wasting his chance!" Vorpika said before Ladybug dragged her away.

_Notes_

(1)Second most important multi-sport event, dedicated to important sports that for whatever reason aren't contested at the Olympic Games. Freestyle Kickboxing and Muay Thai are two such sports.

(2)_History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi_ is a fighting manga, most notable for being quite accurate to actual martial arts in spite of increasing exaggerations and the utter _insanity_ of the series. One of the strongest characters is Apachai Hopachai, a ditzy Muay Thai master that is nonetheless one of the world's strongest men.

(3)In the mythology of the Ganda people of Uganda, Nambi is one of the daughters of the creator god Ggulu, and assumes the form of a bee to help Kintu, the first man, passing the last of the tasks to take her as a wife. With Nora having already (mis)used Anansi's name, I felt she'd go for (mis)using the name of another figure from African folklore.


	7. Day 7: Futuristic AU

And on day 7 I write the one that isn't part of the storyline. So, I went for a sci-fi crossover with two old masterpieces: the original _Mobile Suit Gundam_ and the tragically less known _Venus Wars_ (manga version). Hope you'll have as much fun as I had scouring the UC fluff for this.

_**Day 7: Futuristic AU**_

_Warsaw defense line, August 15, 0079 UC_

Colonel Lila Rossi, commander of the Third Italian Land Artillery Regiment (one of the many national units the Federation had mobilized to counter the Zeon invasion of Earth), was inspecting the battlefield of Zeon's latest attempt at taking the old Polish capital and the remnants of the enemy forces, decimated by the Earthnoid artillery units like hers even before the armored forces, led by the superheavy tanks from the Venusian colony of Ishtar, shattered them, sitting in a sidecar attached to one of the gigantic "Hound" bikes license-built from an Aphrodian design.

"Did you know that this is actually Zeon-occupied land(1)?" she said to her pilot, a rather attractive (physically and in personality) French volunteer temporarily attached to her unit. One whose size compared to the one-tonne bike made her sure that if they had been characters in a story the author obviously wanted a small cute girl driving a gigantic bike(2).

"Well, I _do_ see only Zeonics here." the pilot, Federal sergeant Marinette Dupain-Cheng, said as they passed the hulk of a Gallop. "Think we can make use of some of this?"

"We use mostly the same ammo. That's why I'm here, checking what I can have for my how-"

"Adrien!"

"AAAUGH!"

The sergeant had suddenly stopped the bike and jumped down, going close to the body of a Zeonian trooper and looked at his face.

"I take you knew him?" Lila asked her pilot after reaching her. It wasn't an uncommon occurrence, Zeon had been attracting immigration from the various Sides and she recalled Marinette was from there.

"We went to school together, back on Quintzem-we were together before my family had to leave."

"I see. I'm sor-" as her hand reflexively went to her sidearm, Lila suddenly remembered where she had heard about Quintzem. It had been on the news in September the previous year for the riots and how they had been put down by the Side's government-_Zeon_'s government. "Wait, you're from Zeon?!"

"Munzo(3). There's a difference."

"May I offer my condolences for your loss?"

"It's been months. He choose his father and his pro-Zabi positions, my boyfriend died that day. I'm fine."

"Well then, shall we continue our inspection? Wouldn't want someone else claim my shells."

As the two women returned to the bike, Lila decided she'd help the pilot get over her lost lover. She may have to seduce her, and that was definitely against regulations-but then again, Lila was a career soldier and Marinette a volunteer in service for the duration of the emergency, there wouldn't be time for consequences. And if there were, she didn't care, Marinette had lost her home and her boyfriend to space Nazis, she needed a break.

_Notes_

(1)The various OYW maps show Poland as completely occupied-yet the official timeline indicates Warsaw as one of the starting points of Operation Odessa.

(2)That's the whole reason I've put in the manga version of _Venus Wars_, where the Hound isn't a monowheel but a conventional bike massing a tonne and equipped with an 80mm rifle, anti-tank rockets, and booster rockets. That, and I couldn't figure out how to get Lilanette in that setting, hence me recycling an old idea for a _Mobile Suit Gundam_/_Venus Wars_ crossover.

(3)Zeon's original name as the colony was founded, before Zeon Daikun took over and renamed it after himself.


	8. Day 8: Anything

The conclusion of this series. Hope it won't be too bad.

_**Day 8: Anything**_

It had been a few weeks since the final battle against Paris' supervillain. If it could be called a battle-Gabriel Agreste had been already considering a surrender if Style Queen failed, as if an Akumatized Villain created by someone so vile to get Akumatized over being made to sit in the second row wasn't powerful enough then he couldn't figure what to do, and when he was visited by five superheroes, including the one who had single-handedly thrashed Style Queen for five minutes, he didn't even try and deny anything. He just gave up the _two_ Miraculous he had plus all his data, admitted why he had done it, _thanked_ them when Nambi figured out how to cure his wife (and between the method and_who_ had figured it out,that had been embarrassing for all the presents), and called the police himself. He and his secretary were expected to be sentenced to 10 years(1). Poor Adrien had taken it relatively well for the circumstances, and they had managed to talk his mother into not pulling him from school.

It had been an "interesting" time for Lila and Marinette, especially as they and the class had to deal with a number of idiots who didn't get the difference between Adrien and his father. But it paled in comparison to the confrontation before them: the woman known as "La Benigna" (the good one)-Lila's mother. Who for once was at home and had wanted to talk with them both. And considering how conservative (or "idiotically backward when it comes to love", as Lila had put it) the Italian diplomatic world was, it didn't bead well.

"And what if she threatens to move? Or if she threatens your grandmother's passport! Or-"

"Calm down, Lila." Marinette said, being for once the calm one as they waited for her in the apartment's dining room. And while it was amusing to Lila, of all people, a nervous wreck, the fact _someone_ could do that was concerning. Especially as Marinette knew that a large part of Lila's less reputable character traits could be blamed on her mother somehow managing to be criminally absent(2) and overexpose the girl to people who were literally paid to scam, cheat and lie(3)-and was extremely good at that herself. Still, Marinette knew they could take her, and said just so to her girlfriend.

"But… How?" Lila asked. "She's no Gabriel Agreste, she-"

"Left you alone for days at a time, constantly misses the parent-teacher conferences, and in short she's more neglectful than Gabriel." Marinette stated, matter-of-factly. "What would happen if _that_ became known?"

"I'd likely lose my job." Lila's mother admitted from the door as she entered and showed off a directional mic to indicate she had been listening the whole time. "And thank you for making the whole thing much faster-I have nothing about same-sex relationships, and current trends would keep fools from making any open move, but they might try more covert moves, and I wanted to make sure you could take it. Now, could you wait a minute? I remember you liked my _supplì_(4), and it should be ready in a moment."

As the woman left for the kitchen, Lila turned to Marinette and said: "Can I move in with you?"

"Sure thing." Marinette agreed. Lila's mother may be a good diplomat, but she just wasn't cut to be a parent. Or to stay around children.

_Notes_

(1)By the French Penal Code, Gabriel Agreste would face between 20 years of jail and_ life_, depending on how he acts and how pissed the judge is at him, plus fines. Full collaboration and giving himself up would reduce the jail time by half, however.

(2)As we see in the series, Lila's mother can be away for four days at a time. And apparently, diplomats are often_ that _overworked in the real world too.

(3)Sad to say, but diplomats, in the process of representing their nations' interests, tend to do just that. And on an order they will break many laws. Case in point, many members of the various delegations to the United Nations don't pay their traffic tickets because they're ordered to not pay them, no matter their opinions.

(4)A typical Roman dish.


End file.
